~ Because I have so many words…

The Clock.

Rhonda (Dave’s longtime friend, roommate and caregiver) sent me Dave’s wall clock — he had promised it to me a long while ago when during a phone conversation, I remarked on how lovely was the sound of the chime as it marked the half hour — I could hear it! I could picture him smiling as he told me that every house should have a pendulum clock — it was the heartbeat of a home — and that when he was gone, I could have it — he would leave it to me. Trying to keep a sobering moment light, I joked that it would be symbolic of all the time we spent together on the phone…

I mentioned that conversation to Rhonda last November while she was here to help scatter Dave’s ashes on Cape Canaveral beach.

She never forgot. She packaged it up and sent it to me at Christmas…

After returning to Florida late Sunday night following a two-week Christmas holiday in North Carolina, the first thing I did yesterday was fetch the huge box from the post office.

I found the perfect spot for it.

After carefully unpacking it from buckets of foam popcorn and yards of bubble wrap, I rearranged my living room to accommodate Dave’s clock (spent all afternoon cleaning and moving furniture!!!) and though I was exhausted afterward, I stepped back to admire it, excited to incorporate Dave’s “heartbeat” into my home.

The clock is ticking — the heartbeat of a house, as Dave once described it — and the chimes on the half hours are a delight to hear — almost heavenly!